I looked at Ruel's face illuminated by the grimoire. His harsh features were only further exaggerated by the lighting of his magic. The whole room held their breath as they prepared for what they imagined to be Elijah's last moment with legs. Except for Ella.
"What in the great idiot do you think you're doing!" She exclaimed coming back from the kitchen.
The roasted pork and rice Ella had been carrying toppled to the floor with a clang, scattering out across the icy floor.
"Serving woman, this man threatened to rob me. I'm doing what any mage would."
"And what does that mean? Almost getting ready to kill him! You already put a stop to it so put that book away." Ella said dismissively with a wave of her hand.
"I will deal with It how I see fit. There are different laws and rules commoners have to follow." Ruel fired back.
"No. You've already caused permanent damage to the floor. Mage or not you gotta pay to repair it." She said gesturing at the cracked wood.
"But… if you let Elijah here go, I'd be willing to talk to the owner and get this all taken care of without any paying up to do."
Ruel gave a grunt and looked over to Acklin. He nodded his head very quickly in agreement with Ella, already having been vocal about his disapproval.
With another icy cold glare Ruel slammed his grimoire shut, causing the cold energy withing the room to disperse.
I let out a pent-up breath of relief and watched as Ruel waved his hand over Elijah, causing the ice to disappear in puffs of crystal-like snowflakes.
Elijah scrambled to his feet and without a moment of hesitation ran out the door. Looking out the window I watched his fleeing form going down the path to the mountains. It looked like the storm had eased up and only lightly drizzled against the path. Parts of sunlight were shining through the light grey sky, an odd phenomenon that gave a magical light to the buildings.
I looked back from the window to see Ella talking to the young noble who had gotten up and moved over to her. Bits of their conversation floated back to me as the tavern was still relatively quiet.
"My deepest apologies… can't do anything right… I'll pay all damages."
This was complimented by a coin bag he attempted to discretely pass to Ella. She received it with a smile that said she grateful one of the traveling duo had an actual brain.
After the exchange Ella went back around the counter where a rack of keys hung. She grabbed two and passed them back to Acklin pointing the way to the stairs on the back right of the tavern, miming which rooms they would be in.
Acklin tossed a key to Ruel who refused to acknowledge either of them and stalked up the stairs immediately, each step creaking underneath his stomping. With another word of thanks Acklin too went up the stairs with a much easier gait than Ruel.
I glanced out the window to see that the sky was still grey but had stopped its drizzling, allowing for part of it to be illuminated with orange and yellow.
Sliding out of my seat I started making my way to the door before I noticed Ella had sat down in the booth and had her head in her hands.
I really should… but food at home… but being a good person…
Finally, my inner good person won out and I swung around to sit across from her.
"Hey Hurley. Sorry I don't like anybody seeing me like this already," she said gesturing to her stained apron. "But especially like this." Now pointing to her eyes gleaming with prepared tears.
"It's okay Ella. You already saved the day!"
"Yes, but you know just like me that'll only find trouble elsewhere." This was paired with further sniffling and red eyes.
I knew Ella considered herself as the mother of the town, never having any children of her own. She treated everyone who came into the tavern with respect, love, and kindness. But sometimes with characters like Elijah her empathy instead backfired.
"Listen Ella, you're a good person. Everyday since I've come to know you, you're always looking out for others. But maybe this time you need to let go?"
"Thanks Hurley, you're a good boy. Or spose' I should say young man."
With a smile on her face Ella wiped her tears with the hem of her sleeve and stood up.
"I'll grab you a bowl of soup for being so sweet. Make that two so you can let your momma Liza know I love her." She gave a smile and slipped back into the kitchen, stepping over the pork and rice from the earlier encounter.
I guess being delayed for some free soup isn't the worst thing in the world…
Moments later Ella popped right back out of the kitchen this time holding two bowl of steaming soup. She passed them to me with a smile and said, "Don't forget to tell your momma I miss seeing her around town."
"Will do."
"Alright get on back to home then."
With that I finally got on my way back to home, this time carrying the best soup in the town. Not that there was much competition.